#birthdaygate🎈 - PADDINGTON 2
Speaking of freaking BEARS ... 🧸
"In Paddington 2, the titular bear tries to BUY a POP-UP BOOK for his Aunt Lucy's 100th BIRTHDAY but is framed for STEALING it and sent to prison. While Paddington works to clear his name and win over the hardened prison inmates, the REAL THIEF, a flamboyant ACTOR named Phoenix Buchanan, tries to find a HIDDEN FORTUNE connected to the POP-UP BOOK. The Brown family must help Paddington unmask the true culprit to prove his innocence and save the book."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the only movie I found in the S4 DNA board that features a "BIRTHDAY" storyline. And whereas the birthday in that movie isn't forgotten, it IS the "Object of Desire" and CATALYST for the whole story--much like how WILL'S DISAPPEARANCE ensued the story in S1.
Coincidentally, we also have a very touching and important moment where Paddington believes he is being FORGOTTEN by his family, The Browns, and quite literally sees himself FADE from their family portrait--a MEMORY, as he cries quietly:
But a lot of other things about this movie reminded me of Stranger Things too. For example:
story beats + character moments;
JUDY BROWN was going through a #Bad Break up. ( MILEVEN is that you? lmao )
JONATHAN BROWN was pretending to be someone he was not ( MIKE, and arguably, WILL, you could even say JONATHAN too )
PADDINGTON was framed for a crime he didn't commit: stealing the pop-up book he wanted to gift his aunt. ( us being led to believe ELEVEN had committed the Hawkins Lab massacre ) & being sent to prison and making unexpected friends there that he escaped the prison with. ( like HOPPER and DMITRI + YURI ) He was also even in a coma for a bit. ( like MAX closed S4 )
PHOENIX BUCHANAN, the real thief, was a one-man-show actor who wouldn't work with others + created alts to give off the illusion of a "gang", when really it was just him. ( I see that HENRY/001/VECNA inspiration, Duffers )
MARIE BROWN reminded me of our HEROES COLLECTIVELY. She realized Buchanan was behind everything when he outed himself to her. She matched his freak, being an artist herself lmao, hence why she was able to figure him out ahead of the curve. Gotta love being an ensemble cast. ( like how Henry "outed" himself to NANCY, and HENRY having the whole artist thing in common with WILL )
THE POP-UP BOOK intended as a birthday present was also more important than it seemed, and was actually a solid narrative device on its own. ( like MAX'S DRAWING leading to Vecna's Lair when ensembled appropriately, like a puzzle. And of course, WILL'S PAINTING, which was a coded love confession )
4th wall break moments;
There was also a part I thought was hilarious meta where they referred to Phoenix Buchanan as evil because "ACTORS were the most evil people on the planet. They LIE for a living." ( which reminded me of Stranger Things and their whole WE'RE DERIVATIVE self-aware meta commentary at times. "Actors lie. All. The. Time" Actors/showrunners lying about birthdaygate, mayhaps? )
The movie was set in LONDON ( which is where THE FIRST SHADOW first premiered )
HENRY BROWN represented the well-intended yet skeptical portion of the audience--he rationalized everything Marie said and thought she watched too many adventures movies lmao. There's a scene where Marie wonders where's the cool delulu dude she married. ( he also shares a name withour titular antagonist in S4: HENRY. Does that mean anything? Who knows. )
MARIE BROWN also represented a more inquisitive, curious, creative and "delusional" part of the audience, but it was precisely that intuitive, artistic nature that led her down the path to the truth. She was proven right at the end, just like our heroes + the audience who thinks like her often do. ( She reminded me a lot of characters like JOYCE, who isn't always believed but the narrative continues to prove her right. )
#the formula🎈
GIFT RECEIVER AUNT LUCY / S4 MIKE / S4 ELEVEN pop-up book / painting + "you're the heart" speech / flowers + "I love you" speech
GIFT GIVER PADDINGTON / S4 WILL / S4 MIKE pop-up book / painting + "you're the heart" speech / flowers + "I love you" speech
What do these three gifts have in common?
The phrase "it's not what it looks like" applies to all of them.
That's right. We know that S4 was the season that the writers intended for the heroes to lose. It's no coincidence that the season where they lost is also the season where LIES, SECRETS, MISCOMMUNICATION and ILLUSION were such huge themes.
There were similar themes in Paddington, but in the end everything turned out well: Phoenix was sent to prison while Paddington's name was cleared and he reunited with his family.
But there was a catch.
Spoiler alert: I lied up there about Aunt Lucy getting the pop-up book, and I lied about Paddington having been the one to gift it to her I didn't want to spoil y'all lmao.
Because he was in a coma for three days, Paddington couldn't send her a present for her to have on her birthday.
Neither Paddington nor Buchanan get the perfect birthday present/hidden treasure they both worked so hard to get for the entire movie.
On top of that, the pop-up book was taken in for evidence, so it wasn't like he'd be able to send it later. The writers made it very clear this way that they never intended for neither the antagonist nor the hero to obtain what they originally set out to look for. It was always going to be unattainable to both.
( @cypherheartnokey something about "rainbows not having a physical “end,” which is why the treasure is never found." )
If you care about Paddington, you might be as disappointed as he is. However, where Buchanan's motivation was self-gain, Paddington's was selflessness. So, of course ...
There's a subversion here and the writers DID have something good in store for Paddington:
Something even better than what he originally set out looking for.
Thanks to the power of familial love and community, which were inspired by Paddington's kind nature, Paddington received a way more satisfying closure.
Man what a cute movie like if you're craving something cozy and found family dynamics, 10/10 recommend it. I might even just go watch the other films too.
This reminded me of these hugs too, which healed something in me tbh:
Familial love and community are huge themes across the seasons--and will undoubtedly be VITAL and CENTRAL in resolving the whole story.
And I would leave it here had it not been for the fact that someone's birthday WAS forgotten in S4. And he should've been at the receiving end of at least one gift.
✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦
#birthdaygate🎈
So what could the writers have in store for him? Well, I believe that much like the writers of Paddington brought AUNT LUCY 's life-long dream to life in the end,
So will the writers of ST when it comes to WILL BYERS' dream at the end of the story.